Cauliflower Crust Pizza

A co-worker of mine is currently on a special diet and has been experimenting with several low-carb dishes. One day a few weeks ago, she dropped by my office to tell me about a recipe she’d found – pizza crust made of cauliflower! Yes, it sounded a little strange, but I was definitely intrigued. Since she’s a culinary school graduate and enjoys food as much I do, I trust her judgement and wanted to try it.

She offered to bring a piece to the office the next day for me to sample and even day-old and reheated, it was really good!

My husband is a pizza fanatic, so this new discovery was particularly exciting. Since I try to limit the processed stuff we eat, cutting out simple carbs from our meals when possible, I don’t like to make or order pizza very often. I personally love the sauce, cheese and all the toppings that come on pizzas, but I don’t like the way I feel after eating all the dough that serves as the delivery vehicle, so this twist on the crust has made us both very happy.

With a hefty dose of veggies, I feel good about eating it myself and feeding it to him, which means he can get his pizza fix a lot more often now. We pile it high with a variety of toppings- mushrooms, spinach, red peppers, green peppers, onions, green and black olives, sometimes with meat, and sometimes without.

I’m not going to lie and say it’s just like eating a flour pizza crust because it’s not. But surprisingly, it’s not like eating cauliflower either. I’m not even sure that you’d be able to guess what it was made of if someone hadn’t already told you. The one problem I find is that while it’s not impossible to pick up a piece and eat with your hands, it’s much easier to use a fork. We feel that’s a small price to pay though in order to feel better about what we’re eating.

I’m interested to see what some of you think, so please, if you give it a go, come back and leave a comment!

Directions:

To "Rice" the Cauliflower:

Take 1 large head of fresh cauliflower, remove stems and leaves, and chop the florets into chunks. Add to food processor and pulse until it looks like grain. Do not over-do pulse or you will puree it. (If you don't have a food processor, you can grate the whole head with a cheese grater). Place the riced cauliflower into a microwave safe bowl and microwave for 8 minutes (some microwaves are more powerful than others, so you may need to reduce this cooking time). There is no need to add water, as the natural moisture in the cauliflower is enough to cook itself.

One large head should produce approximately 3 cups of riced cauliflower. The remainder can be used to make additional pizza crusts immediately, or can be stored in the refrigerator for up to one week.

In a medium bowl, stir together 1 cup cauliflower, egg and mozzarella. Add oregano, crushed garlic and garlic salt, stir. Transfer to the cookie sheet, and using your hands, pat out into a 9" round. Optional: Brush olive oil over top of mixture to help with browning.

Bake at 450 degrees for 15 minutes.

Remove from oven. To the crust, add sauce, toppings and cheese. Place under a broiler at high heat just until cheese is melted (approximately 3-4 minutes).

Enjoy!

*Note that toppings need to be precooked since you are only broiling for a few minutes.

Note for those that don’ t have a microwave:

You can steam the florets on the stove before ricing them. The texture/consistency won’t be the same (It will be more like a puree) but it still works fine once you mix all the ingredients together! I know because I’ve tried it that way too!

I had to steam the cauliflower because I don’t own a microwave any longer. The crust was a little soggy, but delicious. I think I may have put a bit too much of something in there. I used scapes instead of garlic, which added really awesome flavor. Great recipe – very versatile! :)

This looks amazing!! I definitely need to take some pointers from here.. never thought to use a food processor I sat grating mine.. like a fool!!
I’ve written a blog post on my version of a cauliflower pizza, it’s no where near to this standard but I’m still learning, it’d be great if anybody wanted to check it out :)http://thatthoughtfulgirl.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/pizza-with-twist.html

Beth… My son figured out the soggy center problem!!! I use my large rectangle baking sheet and made two long “strip” style pizzas! My eight year old little boy wouldn’t eat the middle part that wasn’t crispy and he said “Mom, just make this with only edges!” He solved the problem for me! We cut it in strips for easy eating. We both take it cold in our lunch boxes! Yum-o!!! We experimented with a doughnut shape and little circles too and both work equally well but the strips are easier for week nights when I need it fast.

Hi Beth!
Thank you so much for sharing the recipe! It was very tasty and my roommates were happy for me to cook it. I messed up by using too much cauliflower though. I used the whole head, which was about 3 cups. That being said, it was way too crumbly. We had to eat the pizza with forks because we couldn’t pick it up! It was very tasty though and next time I make it, I will have to read the recipe more closely! Thanks Beth!

Hello, I made this and it’s delicious! I’m wondering if anyone has tried freezing either the “dough” or the crust?? I’d love to have the prep work done for those busy nights. Also, I’ll apologize if this question has already been answered…961 replies seemed like a lot to sift through! Thanks!

We made this over a campfire while camping last week (cauliflower prepared ahead of time and mixed at the campsite), and I think it turned out as well as it could at home. We added onion, leftover crock pot Italian sausage in sauce and mozzarella. It was very tasty!

Hi Beth, I tried this california crust pizza few weeks back and crust turned out pretty good cripsy as it should be but when I put the toppings and broiled it, it became a little soggy/soft when I took it out. Not sure what could be wrong? Do you have any suggestions?

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Hi, I’m Beth!

I’m a food and drink obsessed girl living in beautiful Nashville, Tennessee. I'm always on the hunt for new and exciting things in the culinary world, so I created this blog to share all of my adventures, discoveries, inspirations, and recipes. Follow along and I bet you'll smile too!